“If you saw Atlas…still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength….what would you tell him to do?” “To shrug”- Frisco (pg.422) (Meagan Adler)

  

            Ayn Rand’s ability to contrast the opaque socialist world of distortion, defined by a “gray light seeping through a soggy sky” covered by a “chalk of clouds” (pg.831) with Galt’s world of clarity, defined by the promise of the “coming leaves of spring” (pg.1068) is brilliantly captivating as it is simultaneously simple yet analytically complex.  Whether it is describing James Taggart as a “killer…for the sake of killing” (pg.827), Robin Hood as the “double parasite who lives on the sores of the poor and the blood of the rich” (pg.532), or Cherryl as a “dog” in “somebody’s laboratory” that is “trapped in a maze with no exit” (pg.830), Rand captures the essence of existence in depicting the dystopian values of a non-living and, according to Galt, a nonexistent socialist world. 

In my opinion, some of the most powerful parts of the novel are when Rand shows Dagny and Rearden on their own “single-tracked” (pg.39) journeys, refusing to submit to the collective entity, for it is at these parts of the novel that we are clearly able to see the hypocrisy of the artificially “fair” socialist society.  It is almost as if Rearden Steel and Taggart Transcontinental are Rearden and Dagny’s identities; I think it is this reason that they both fear the finalities of abandoning them forever in leaving for Galt’s world.  Furthermore, Rand shows us that it is for their own selfish pursuit that they feed the “fat blank” (pg.792) faced looters that have the “eyes of a killer” (pg.792).  Also expanding upon the idea that these industries are Dagny and Rearden’s identities is the idea that they simultaneously feel the “pounding of the engine’s heart” (pg.230) on the John Galt Line; both these characters are self-seeking materialistic industrialists who share a love to this tangible collaborated creation because they feel like it is a product of their own identities.  However, Rand also shows us that it is inevitable to not feel somewhat trapped by the filter of distortion in the socialist world, for Dagny is not driven to fully abandon the looter’s society until the destruction of the Taggart Bridge.  As I stated in an earlier post, I believe that the Taggart Bridge symbolizes that capitalism is still durable, even in the quickly deteriorating socialistic society.  When Dagny discovers that this bridge is destroyed, she looses all hope in the looter’s world.  Being the last person to surrender to Galt’s world, we almost sympathize with Dagny as she keeps searching for a false sense of hope; we are exposed to this when Rand describes Dagny's desperate need to find the formula to the mysterious motor that was needed “not to move trains, but to keep her moving” (pg.618). 

I was particularly fond of the way Rand clearly communicates the idea that the people in the cannibalistic society are the living dead, figuratively killed by the government who hinders them from thinking freely.  She vividly describes that “There had been a time when the railroad was called the blood system of the nation, and the stream of trains had been like a living circuit of blood…Now, it was still like a stream of blood, but like the one way stream that runs from a wound, draining the last of a body’s sustenance and life” (pg. 833).  I think that Rand powerfully communicates the idea that the elite dictators are murderers who try to take all life from their subjects by feeding filtered information to them, sculpting them into manipulated robots.  This metaphorical comparison to the wound furthermore expands upon the idea of Dagny being a scab, trying to save the bleeding society. In depicting the idea that society sees Dagny as a “woman who runs a railroad, instead of practicing the beautiful craft of handloom and bearing children” (pg.133), Rand reveals the societal attitude and communicates that Dagny rebels against it, for she sees it as a product of government manipulation.  The government is “playing the game” (pg.500) with society and suspects that the majority “will play along” (pg.505).  Rand clearly communicates the inefficiencies and the ultimate regression a society is forced to face when it refuses to progress.  This regression augments the distortion of the socialist world where “A” is not necessarily “A”. 

I was intrigued by the parts of the novel where Rand shows Dagny experiencing moments of clarity in the socialist world, such as that when she sees Galt as the “Statue of Liberty” (pg.881) holding the lantern on the tracks and when she feels as if Jim is plunging a “knife into her back” (pg.834); it is at these moments that we clearly see that Dagny is trying to live in a world where it is impossible to truly live.  Galt, as a Jesus-like figure, mockingly laughs at the socialist world as it tries to verify its own existence by “faking reality” (pg.992).  I found it interesting that there are moments in the novel when certain characters do see clarity, but automatically try to escape it, as they are afraid of confronting their own realities; such a moment occurs when Stadler looks at the figure on the window still, which had served as a “silent reflector” (pg. 1024).  Although momentarily Stadler sees his true immoral disposition, he quickly escapes it as he demands control over the self-destructive Project X.  This moment helps illustrate that idea that society tries to avoid clarity, for they are threatened by it; they fear that if they do not conform to the collective entity then they will loose belongingness.  Lastly, I have to comment on the bittersweet moment of the novel when Dagny decides to surrender to Galt’s world and meets Fransisco before she packs up her belongings; Rand brings back their nostalgic childhood nicknames when Fransisco says “So long, Slug” (pg.1040) and Dagny responds “So long, Frisco” (pg.1040) as Dagny leaves to pack.  Slightly romantic and inevitably adorable, this was one of my favorite moments in the novel.  We are completely satisfied at the powerful conclusion of the novel,  as we see the destroyed and completely dead socialistic society and feel almost a sense of consolation as Dagny takes off the “uniform of an army she was not serving any longer” (pg.1040) and stands with Galt as he traces the “sign of the dollar” (pg.1069) back onto the “desolate earth” (pg.1069).

1.5 hours for 20 pages, 80.25 hours for the whole book.... your the best Ayn Rand.